by T. A. White
That was the sticking point.
Graydon was an honorable man. She knew this to her bones. She might not like his method of getting what he wanted, but she never doubted he always had the best interests of his people at heart.
But did those interests align with hers? Could she trust the people around him as much as she did him? Those were the real questions.
She didn't have an answer, and until she did, she was stuck in the middle. Too afraid to move forward, knowing there was no easy way back.
The higher forms had an agenda. A plan. One that shifted and warped every time she thought she caught hold of it. The Tuann were part of that plan. Something told her they were the linchpin upon which everything else turned.
She needed to learn how.
"We have to protect this," Kira whispered.
"We will, Kira," Jin told her in a soft voice. "And I'll be right there with you. To the end if necessary."
The lizard nuzzled her cheek before biting her gently in rebuke.
"There is no me without you," he said. "Remember that when you think about leaving."
"I never intended to let myself fade into the night," she said.
"Why didn't you tell me? I thought I knew everything."
He did. The important stuff anyway.
"At first, it was because I didn't want it to be true. If I ignored it, it meant it wasn't happening. Then when I couldn't hide it, things had changed, and I had to focus on what I could control."
"In other words, you buried your head in the sand and hoped this would pass you by," Jin drawled.
Kira's grin was quick and repentant. That was as good an explanation as any.
"Ah, well, you wouldn't be the first." The lizard uncoiled from her neck, reclaiming her shoulder.
Kira was first out of the field of lu-ong, Raider and Graydon following shortly afterward as she began to head to where the patrol was forming up.
"We don't have to do this alone anymore. There are options," Jin said.
Kira glanced down, aware of how the lizard was staring at Graydon as he approached, his face relaxed, like the rough edges had been chiseled down and worn smooth. He'd enjoyed their time with the lu-ong.
"You trust him?"
"Don't you?" Jin asked in a pointed voice.
Kira barely hid her flinch. Jin had a point. She didn't let herself get close to people for a reason. That the commander had already breached her defenses several times, meant she trusted him at a subconscious level.
She knew in her bones he wasn't working with the Tsavitee. She'd seen too much of him to think him anything but honorable. Battle had a way of bonding you, of showing you the darkest and best parts of a person. It could lead to feeling incredibly close to the person who fought at your side in a very short amount of time. It stripped the walls that most people kept between them and others, reducing them to their most basic selves.
Graydon had a soul filled with light and dark. He was a terror to his enemy but never those he was loyal to. If she had him in her corner, she knew he wouldn't step out of it even under the most insidious of pressure. He held a strength that most only aspired to.
There was confidence in everything he did. He was the steady rock when everything else had gone to shit.
And if he decided she was a threat to the ones he loved, he would seek to destroy her. She didn't think there'd be any coming back from that.
Not only because she wasn't certain who would win in a real fight.
Graydon rode his board, his posture easy as he glanced at her in curiosity, as if sensing the dark place her thoughts had turned to.
“I won,” she told the two of them.
Graydon’s grin was seductive. “Debatable.”
“First out. I count that as a win,” Kira shot back.
The tension in Wren and the rest of the oshota distracted them from their friendly argument.
Graydon straightened, the relaxation of before falling away. Everything about him changed. Gone was the mischievous playmate who'd dodged the lu-ong with her. Now, he was the Emperor's Face. Someone who wore his power like a mantle, not like it was a burden but rather a duty he cherished and respected.
"What is it?" Graydon asked in a normal voice despite the fifteen feet between them.
"A distress call came in," Wren said.
"Where?" Graydon demanded.
"Lenay quadrant. Fishing boat. It sounded like a lu-ong had attacked their vessel," Wren answered.
More than one person slid an uneasy glance at the lu-ong below. Interestingly, the creatures had cleared out in the past few minutes, not breaking the surface as often—almost like they sensed what was happening.
"It's been a long time since the lu-ong have been in these waters," Graydon said. "Perhaps the time away has opened the door for misunderstandings between them and us."
Wren shook his head. "Harlow never lifted the restrictions on the lu-ong’s nesting grounds in the hope they would return. No one should be out there."
"And yet they are," Graydon said, his expression distant as he considered.
His eyes met Kira's, the same thought in her mind as well. It was very hard not to see Tsavitee influence behind everything. They'd been the rot that had destroyed so much of her life already. However, jumping to conclusions and chasing ghosts that weren't there was just as dangerous.
Could be this was someone breaking the rules. Maybe they didn't realize the lu-ong were back. That made this Tuann business.
On the other hand, it could be this was the first move in the war the Tsavitee started on Ta Da'an. Only one way to find out, and that was to investigate.
Graydon made an abrupt gesture. Amila and Isla nodded, dropping out of the formation before hitting their thrusters and racing toward the distress call.
Graydon glanced at Kira. "I want you with me."
Kira nodded.
"You're to follow orders," Graydon told the initiates in a hard voice. "If I get word that you're creating a problem, forget the trial—you'll be kicked out of Roake."
Wren didn't argue. If anything, his expression hardened, becoming even more unrelenting than usual. Kira had a feeling his preference would have been to send the initiates to the fortress.
"On me," Graydon told Kira.
The lizard clasped his tail with his paws, tightening his grip around her neck. Good thing too, because Graydon and Kira didn't wait for the rest to sort themselves out, arrowing after Amila and Isla without delay.
Raider fell into position off Kira's starboard side, keeping pace easily. The rest of Graydon's oshota, and a few of Roake's, did the same around them. They moved with the ease and purpose of people who'd performed this task on countless missions with each other. They didn't wait to be told what to do; they simply did it. They were a well-oiled machine that communicated without a word spoken.
"Kira, try not to do anything foolish," Graydon warned.
"It's like he doesn't even know you," Jin quipped.
Irritation chased across Graydon's face. It looked like Jin's remark hadn't gone unnoticed. "And keep him out of the way."
Kira snorted. Fat chance of that. Jin thrived on throwing himself headlong into danger. He gave her shit, but he was nearly as reckless. At least she employed foresight, thought through some of the consequences before discarding them as unimportant.
His thinking was more along the lines of "I saw, I wanted, I took." Consequences only came into play after the chips were down, and the smoke had cleared.
The small fishing boat came into view. Made of wood with a tall mast in its center, its sail was built from a shimmery, silver fabric. The boat looked fast and sleek if not for the massive lu-ong coil wrapped around its bow, threatening to drag it into the water.
Instead of a propeller, it looked like it had some type of technology that would allow it to hover a few feet above the water under normal circumstances. These were not those.
The crew huddled on the far end of the boat away from the lu-ong. No ma
tter how strong Tuann craftsmanship was, it wouldn't be long before the boat went under or cracked under the strain.
Raider made a small exclamation, the curse carrying. "Looks like you're not the only one those creatures think is a tasty snack."
They traded grim looks as they circled the boat.
Kira saw her first impression had been wrong. The lu-ong hadn't just gripped the boat with a serpentine coil. The rest of its body surrounded the boat as well, creating a small well in the middle where the ocean frothed from its movements.
"Anybody ever seen a mad lu-ong before?" Aeron asked.
Graydon's oshota all shot glances at Kira, the memory of a baby lu-ong attacking her vivid in their eyes. There was one difference, that lu-ong had a Tsavitee control collar on it. It hadn't attacked of its own will.
This lu-ong had no such device forcing its actions.
It made their jobs both easier and more difficult.
"Amila, Solal, get the lu-ong’s attention," Graydon ordered.
Their agreement came in a wordless cry. The two broke off from the formation to dive bomb the lu-ong’s head. Kira held her breath as the lu-ong snapped at Solal, nearly catching him. He swerved at the last minute as Amila came from the other side, a blast leaving her hand and striking the lu-ong’s temple.
They broke off, getting distance before making another run.
The rest of the group circled high overhead out of immediate danger. Watching, observing, analyzing.
The lu-ong was massive with pink whiskers and a neon yellow fringe. Its body was dark. In the ocean, it would be nearly indistinguishable from the waves.
As she watched, it hissed at Amila, baring fangs easily as long as Kira's body. Its fringe flared, like a king cobra's hood right before it struck.
The lu-ong curled closer to the boat, its coils tightening, forcing the boat's bow deeper into the water.
"That boat isn't going to last much longer," Jin warned. "My analysis puts a threat of hull breach due to stress at seventy-eight percent. Your time is limited."
Urgency and desperation beat at Kira as Solal and Amila dipped and wove around the lu-ong’s head, narrowly avoiding being turned into a Tuann-sized snack. They moved almost too quick to follow, but not quick enough.
The lu-ong’s fringe flared again, its mouth opening as a ball of pink light shot out like a laser. Graydon flung a hand out, energy forming around Amila.
The light bounced off the shield with a sound loud enough to break eardrums. A fist punched Kira in the chest, the board bucking under her from the reverberations of power.
Raider cursed as his did the same.
"Get distance," Wren cried. "Indya, Veer, support those two."
The oshota from Roake obeyed, the rest of them climbing.
The lu-ong hissed again, her head snapping forward when one of the oshota got too close.
Amila's hands glowed white-hot, creating a streak of light as she aimed at the lu-ong’s neck. Kira saw the danger before she did as the lu-ong’s tail rose out of the water behind Amila. Kira screamed a warning, already knowing it was useless.
Her body acted without thought, closing the distance between her and Amila as the tail loomed larger with every second. Twenty feet. Ten. Almost there.
Kira braced seconds before impact. She hit the other woman, sending them tumbling through the air, the tail crashing into the space they'd just been.
Kira let go, letting Amila spin away from her.
The oshota glanced at the disaster that could have been before giving Kira a sharp nod of thanks.
It was all they had time for, the lu-ong already gearing up for another attack, vicious in its defense. Kira and Amila immediately split, racing away from each other and forcing the lu-ong to choose its target.
Light and energy that Kira was beginning to associate with ki rent the air, shields snapping into shape as the lu-ong attacked. Whatever ability existed in the Tuann to shape the energy of the world around them, also existed in the lu-ong—only magnified.
They were going to lose unless something changed.
That was unacceptable.
Come on, Kira. See what isn't obvious. There was always a way. She just had to find it.
Kira studied the lu-ong and frowned. There was something about the way it was arranged around the boat. Almost protective. She swung wide for a better look, forcing herself to ignore the battle.
Sometimes you served on the front lines. Other times you had to take a step back and see what others couldn't.
Raider broke off, dropping into place beside her. Their formation tight. "What do you see?"
"It's almost as if she is protecting something."
The rightness of those words settled into place. There was something down there. Something desperate and afraid and needing help.
"Jin, can you tell me anything about what's below the surface?" Kira asked.
The lizard unwound, perching on her shoulder and staring at the spot the lu-ong guarded with zealous intensity. After a long moment, the lizard shook its head. "No, I think she's doing something to disrupt my sensors."
"Shouldn't that be impossible?" Raider asked, voicing Kira's thoughts.
"I'm beginning to think there is a lot more to these creatures than the Tuann want us to know," Jin responded.
Kira agreed, but their questions would have to wait until the danger had passed.
Kira studied the fishing boat, her mind sifting through the information. The lu-ong rearranged its coils to cover that pool. Her gaze caught on something she hadn't noticed before, a line stretching from the boat into the water.
Suspicion dawned.
Kira broke off, looping up and around before darting toward the lu-ong, her path not straying even as the lu-ong’s eyes locked on her.
"Kira, what are you doing?" Raider asked in her comms, sounding tense as she headed straight for that small dot of water the lu-ong guarded.
"Not to side with the meat sack—because bleh—but I'd kind of like to know that myself," Jin said from his spot on her shoulder.
Kira was silent. He wasn't going to like this plan and she didn't have time to argue.
"Why are you flying directly over that energy field the lu-ong is creating?" Jin asked, sounding more alert
"What better way to see what it's hiding?"
The lizard spun, its mouth dropping so it stared at her in consternation. "Are you crazy?"
Her grimace told the answer.
"You are," he wailed.
"Sometimes I wonder that myself," she confided.
She'd learned a long time ago to listen when her instincts whispered. Right now, they were telling her that what the lu-ong protected was of vital importance. There was a pounding in her head, a rock-solid belief that something needed her help.
It whispered and gasped, its cries echoing in her ears.
It was possible she was imagining things. If so, what a time for her mind to break.
Graydon and his oshota diverted the lu-ong’s attention just then, allowing Kira to close the distance, Raider right behind her.
"I hope you know what you're doing because there won't be any way we can help you once you're down there," Raider said.
"Have I ever let you down?"
There was a brief pause and then an answer from both Jin and Raider. "Yes. Frequently."
Kira ignored the two sourpusses. It was go time.
Ten feet.
The postage stamp area she needed to investigate beckoned. Its dark depths whispering of safety.
She hoped she didn't break her neck doing this. Maybe they were right—this wasn't the best idea.
Five feet.
"Jin, you think you can fly this thing?" Kira asked.
There was a pause. "Of course, I can. I'm a better pilot than you."
"I would argue with the truth of that statement," Raider grumbled.
Jin ignored him, asking suspiciously "Why?"
Kira didn't answer. There wasn't time. Two feet. Her ti
ming needed to be perfect.
Graydon's horrified expression caught her attention. He looked incredulous, then furious. "Don't you dare."
"Wish me luck," Kira said with a crooked smile.
She stepped off the board, Graydon's roar surrounding her.
She plummeted. Gravity and the speed she had been flying at pulling her down in a soft arc.
Water rushed up to meet her. Closer. Closer.
Kira pressed her legs together, pointing her feet and crossing her arms over her chest. She braced. This might hurt a bit. She'd intentionally slowed before the jump, so she didn't crush her bones on impact. Hopefully, it would be enough.
The roar of a board approached. Graydon's face was intent and set as he arrowed to intercept her. The lu-ong’s head rose on Kira's other side. She spat a thin stream of fire that crackled, splitting into two serpentine bodies only feet away from Kira, bypassing her before crashing together on her other side.
Graydon broke off, evading an unfortunate barbecuing.
Part of the serpentine body of the lu-ong rose. Only an impossible flip and a hard shove of Graydon's own ki saved him from death.
An enraged cry escaped Graydon at his failure to reach her.
Kira took one last deep breath, filling her lungs seconds before she hit.
The water closed around her like a fist. The satisfaction she felt at landing nearly dead center in the circle was fleeting.
Nothing had prepared her for this.
Panic and fear wrapped around her. She fought against gasping as everything she hadn't picked up on above came crashing down all at once.
For a moment, her focus wobbled, overwhelmed by what the creature below was projecting. Her vision darkened as she struggled. Faltering now would mean death.
From somewhere, she rallied reserves she didn't know she had, pushing out with her mind as Joule had taught her. The manipulation of ki was only constrained by the imagination. Form a picture, exert your will. The ki would answer, he had promised.
She pushed out with her mind, imagining a thin, permeable barrier between her and the owner of those feelings. Not enough to block them, but enough so she could create space to breathe.
There was the smallest lessening of pressure on her mind. Enough to realize the mind encroaching on hers was young. A babe compared to the ancient creature attacking the boat above.